Traveling is a prime way to be rich in what matters

“Traveling is a prime way to be rich in what matters. I just returned from eight days in Costa Rica, tired and happy from my first volunteer vacation.” Alison Wiley of Oregon just got back from a week of volunteering in Monteverde, Costa Rica with Global Volunteers. In her blog, she writes about giving and receiving while traveling, and how this is best done if we follow the lead of the locals. This happens to precisely be the Philosophy of Service of Global Volunteers when serving in communities around the globe.

The pit we built for the biodigester!

Alison writes, “Do consider a volunteer vacation. Digging in the dirt, side by side with Costa Rican students to build a biodigester may sound like an unusual way to have fun. But for me, spending a vacation this way was . . . SO FUN! I cheerfully called us the Costa Rican Chain Gang, and a fellow volunteer dubbed me the Shah of the Shovel, for my enthused digging. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and I was part of something bigger than myself. I wish I’d started doing volunteer vacations years ago. Global Volunteers is the organization I used, and I highly recommend them. My volunteer team was led by Maggie Bjorklund, a smiling, bicultural, Spanish-speaking sparkplug.”

If you are joining us in Costa Rica soon, or thinking about doing so, check out her Top 10 Tips for Visiting Costa Rica.